The Rev. Kathi Johnson
A Lent 2 – March 16, 2014
Texts: Genesis 12:1-4a and John 3:1-17
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
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Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father and his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today, I am actually drawing mostly from the Old Testament reading from Genesis 12 – the short story that tells us about the call of Abram. Abram – who will become Abraham – as in Father Abraham – the father of a multitude. Today’s short story is seen as a transition point in the Bible – everything before this point is the primeval history of creation and God. But from this point on, we find the history of God’s relationship with humanity really beginning to come together.
Abram is introduced to us right before today’s reading – we’re told he’s the son of Terah and that he has a barren wife named Sarai. Terah and his sons journey together from a place east of Canaan called Ur, to another place called Haran, which is north of Canaan, and they stop there – we don’t know for how long. Terah dies there, and it’s at this point where we pick up the story today.
God calls Abram to leave his country and kindred and his father’s house – in other words, to leave behind everything that is familiar – and then to go to a place where God will lead him. God then gives Abram a huge promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
“I will bless you,” God says, “And make your name great…” and why? What is the purpose of this blessing for Abram?
The purpose of blessing Abram is so that he can go on to be a blessing to others.
I started thinking about blessing, and how it is that we bless others. I certainly can think of many blessings in my life, and I can think of ways that I bless others (or try to). That got me thinking about Our Redeemer, and the blessings of the people here – and some of the ways that you all bless not only me, but others. And here’s what I came up with…
The Many Ways We Bless... from SmilingKJ
The problem with putting together a slide show is that there’s no way to make it all-inclusive. I didn’t include every single way we bless each other or the community. I didn’t include every event we’ve hosted, every hug we’ve given, every hour someone has spent cleaning, or teaching Christian Education, or mowing the grass. And because I don’t follow you all around with my camera (that would be…creepy), I didn’t include all the ways that you bless others in your lives outside of this place.
For as much as we might heap blessings upon each other here in this place, our Gospel lesson today also tells us that God loves the world – the WORLD! The whole world. The worlds in which we work and play; the worlds in which we live and move and have our being. My friends, we are born of water and the Spirit. And as those who are born of water and the Spirit, we are called – like Abram – to be blessings to the world. It’s like that phrase: “Blessed to be a blessing.” That’s us! We are blessed to be a blessing.
Many of us have heard this verse again and again: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” And there’s even more good news in the next verse: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Even though God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, there are many in the world who feel condemned or cursed by God, largely because of their experiences with God’s people. And there are many in the world who don’t experience blessing very often. And so my question to you is: What is the blessing that you are called to be in the world?
We are called to bless. We are called to love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The problem with putting together a slide show is that there’s no way to make it all-inclusive. I didn’t include every single way we bless each other or the community. I didn’t include every event we’ve hosted, every hug we’ve given, every hour someone has spent cleaning, or teaching Christian Education, or mowing the grass. And because I don’t follow you all around with my camera (that would be…creepy), I didn’t include all the ways that you bless others in your lives outside of this place.
For as much as we might heap blessings upon each other here in this place, our Gospel lesson today also tells us that God loves the world – the WORLD! The whole world. The worlds in which we work and play; the worlds in which we live and move and have our being. My friends, we are born of water and the Spirit. And as those who are born of water and the Spirit, we are called – like Abram – to be blessings to the world. It’s like that phrase: “Blessed to be a blessing.” That’s us! We are blessed to be a blessing.
Many of us have heard this verse again and again: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” And there’s even more good news in the next verse: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Even though God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, there are many in the world who feel condemned or cursed by God, largely because of their experiences with God’s people. And there are many in the world who don’t experience blessing very often. And so my question to you is: What is the blessing that you are called to be in the world?
We are called to bless. We are called to love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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